By: Holly MacKenzie

When the Senior Women’s National Team punched their ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, head coach Lisa Thomaidis took a moment. Leading the program to its third consecutive Olympic Games, nurturing and growing a program that is built on commitment and dedication in the process, she began to take it in.

Like most head coaches, Thomaidis didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming a basketball coach. She didn’t even really grow up dreaming of becoming a professional basketball player, in part because the imagery hadn’t been available to her while growing up in Dundas, Ontario.

“There was very little visibility [to the women’s game at the time],” she said. “It was really about who you happened to see and who you happened to come across in your part of the world.”

Though she first learned and fell in love with the game by shooting hoops with her brother on a basketball net attached to the garage door of her childhood home, it wasn’t until reading articles about Canadian Olympian and Hall of Famer Bev Smith that she learned of the national team program. Soon after, as a student attending McMaster University, Thomaidis was able to witness women’s basketball at its highest level, thanks to the 1995 FIBA Americas Tournament, where the Canadian women won gold.

“Probably my first real exposure,” Thomaidis said. “That was when I truly got a visual of what the highest level looks like and the impressive athletes that were out there representing their country.”

It was during that tournament that Thomaidis learned the piece of information that would shape her post-graduate direction.

“I had just graduated, I was working at the time,” Thomaidis said. “My dad is Greek. I remember reading in the program that a couple of the national team players were playing in Greece. One thing led to the next and I thought, ‘You know what, I'm not ready to be done playing.’”

Once the plan was solidified, Thomaidis went to Greece and began to play professionally. After an injury in her second season, Thomaidis made the decision to return home and accept a coaching opening at the University of Saskatchewan. That was in 1998. In 2002, Thomaidis joined Allison McNeill’s staff with the Canadian Senior Women’s Team.

“One thing led to the next,” she said. “ I got the opportunity to work with Allison McNeill and that really was a game changer for me. Being able to see and work with those high-level coaches and be able to be exposed to the national team at a young age as a coach, it’s amazing. A few things can happen in your life that can lead you down a whole different path, one that I never thought would be possible.”

After going to the 2012 Summer Olympics as an assistant with McNeill’s staff, Thomaidis succeeded McNeill as head coach in 2013. Thomaidis is still at the helm in Saskatchewan, pulling double-duty as head coach of the Saskatchewan Huskies and the Canadian Women’s National Team.

Since Thomaidis became head coach for the Canadian women, the program finished fifth at the 2014 FIBA World Championship, earned gold medals at the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2015 FIBA Americas Women's Championship in Edmonton, the home of Canada’s Senior Women’s National Team. At the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, the program finished seventh, then went on to win a gold medal at the 2017 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup. Most recently, the program went 3-0 in the FIBA Women’s Pre-Olympic Tournament in Edmonton, as well as 3-0 in the FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgium en route to qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Women’s Basketball Tournament.

“Lisa’s an incredible coach,” Kayla Alexander said. “Her basketball IQ is just incredible. You can ask her a question about anything if you’re confused and she’ll break it down for you. All the different set ups, all the different options all the different reads. She’s so great in that way.”

When watching the Senior Women play, their poise is remarkable. If there’s a slow start, the team will come out after halftime confident and ready to turn things around. While some of this calm can be attributed to leadership and experience from veterans and soon-to-be three-time Olympians Kim Gaucher, Natalie Achonwa and Miranda Ayim, it’s easy to see why the team is unflappable when observing the demeanour of its head coach.

“I think I've always been like that,” Thomaidis said of her patient approach. “I think I always looked at it as, players know when they make mistakes. There’s no sense making it worse by getting all worked up and pointing that out. If anything I want them focused on what they’re going to do next.”

Thomaidis remains calm under pressure because she preaches staying in the moment and having a next play mentality. Whether things are going her team’s way or they’re trying to right the ship, her approach is the same. She’s always trying to make the next possession better than the last.

“For me, I'm thinking about what is going to happen next and how I'm going to fix a problem if there is one,” Thomaidis said. “I’m always in problem solving mode as opposed to that emotional side of things. I always think there’s something black or white that can fix it. I’m always wanting to fix it for them.”

Her players appreciate her steadying approach.

“I love how she communicates with the players,” Alexander said. “If we have questions, she’s always open. I feel like she really knows the players as well. Their tendencies, what they like to do. She creates plays and options for us with that. She wants us all to excel and play our game. It’s evident in the way she runs practices, coaches us and communicates with us.”

Thomaidis’ focus is on equipping her players with the best opportunity for success. Whether that is problem solving or empowering her team to figure out their opponent as the game unfolds, she just wants them to succeed.

“I want to be that calming presence for the team and the players so that they can just think clearly and not get rattled,” Thomaidis said. “I think there's enough going on in the game to make them rattled or to cause an emotional response. They don't need me to amp that up anymore.”

Helping to round out Thomaidis’ coaching staff are Carly Clarke and Steve Baur. While Baur has been on the staff since 2014, Clarke joined in 2017.

“She surrounds herself with a great coaching staff with Carly and Steve,” Alexander said. “I think they work really well together. They’re a great team. She’s a great leader.”

When Thomaidis is talking about coaching or basketball, her focus is rarely inward. Often a question directed to her about herself will turn into her giving praise to the women she coaches for their commitment and dedication. It isn’t just the players, though. Everyone involved with the Senior Women’s National Team is there because it means something important to them and because it gives them great pride to represent their country and joy to do it alongside one another.

Thomaidis shrugs off praise at the environment she’s helped to create, but does share the principle she’s guided by in sport and in life.

“Just be true to yourself,” Thomaidis said. “From a leadership perspective, I think you can always be reading about what the great leaders are like, or what great coaches are like, but you can’t be something that you’re not. You really have to lean on the strengths that you bring and highlight those as opposed to trying to change or be something that you’re not.

“I think when you’re not genuine, people can see right through you or when you’re trying to coach or act in a certain way just because you think it might be for the better, I think it ends up backfiring on you. Just being true to yourself and what you bring and how you can best maximize those strengths is probably something I’ve learned along the way.”

After the team’s recent victory over Sweden where the women officially qualified for Tokyo 2020, Thomaidis spoke about the slow first half and how the team flipped the switch to turn the game into a 30-point blowout win. She praised her team’s intelligence and heart. A day later, after the team defeated Japan 70-68 to leave Belgium with a perfect 3-0 record, it was Achonwa praising Thomaidis and her staff for their preparation and dedication.

“They’re professionals,” Thomaidis said. “[I’m trying to be] whatever it is that they need. I’m trying to help them be at their best.”

As the team continues to set new goals and try to reach new heights, Thomaidis will be there to lead the way, working to make the journey smoother in any way she can.

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